christopher price

Could the Summer of Gronk lead to the fall of Gronk?

FOXBORO -- With apologies to George Costanza, the last few months have been the Summer of Gronk.

Since the end of the 2011 season -- one of the greatest statistical years for a tight end in NFL history -- Rob Gronkowski has taken a very fast, very public, Zubaz-clad journey from mere NFL star to someone with crossover potential. Buoyed by an outsized body (and personality to match), he’s crashed through the intersection where sports and pop culture collide, making a name for himself with the TMZ crowd where he popped up in random blogs, bizarre reality dating shows and random pool parties. He was on the red carpet at the ESPYs, linked to Kim Kardashian, appeared nude on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine and been a page-view gold mine for Deadspin.

Oh, and he also signed a contract that made him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history.

With so much off-field craziness, could the Summer of Gronk lead to a massive hangover? It takes a unique individual to be able to handle that fast lane: Keeping the focus on the field would be a challenge for almost anyone, let alone a 23-year-old from upstate New York. The sports world is littered with cautionary tales of players who got too much, too soon, lost their focus and simply burned out.

But as the 2012 season dawned on Thursday afternoon in Foxboro, it appeared that the big tight end has managed to get his priorities straight. After spending the spring on the shelf because of an ankle injury he suffered in the AFC title game (and the offseason surgery that followed), he was on the field for the first time and looked every bit like the same guy who had a dominant 2011 when he finished with 90 catches for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdown catches.

There was no TMZ. No Zubaz. And no Yo Soy Fiesta. Just Gronk in his natural habitat, catching passing and blowing up defenders.

“I think he’s all right,” proclaimed Patriots coach Bill Belichick when he was asked about Gronkowski’s condition before Thursday’s practice.

It’s well established that Belichick prefers his players keep a low profile over the offseason -- there were reports the team asked Gronkowski to tone it down -- but he didn’t appear worried about the state of his big tight end on Thursday.

“I talk to our players, individually and collectively,” Belichick said when asked if he had any issue with the way Gronkowski conducted himself this past offseason. “I talk to them about a lot of things all the time. Any conversations that I have individually with a player, I keep that between myself and the player. But I talk to the players on a daily basis. We talk about a lot of things.”

Locally, the only recent comparison of an athlete who spent too much time enjoying his offseason was Brad Marchand of the Bruins, who really enjoyed himself in the wake of the B’s Stanley Cup win. (He told Sports Illustrated he was too drunk to be interviewed for the Bruins’ commemorative Stanley Cup DVD, and later confessed to going a little “overboard.”) Marchand struggled out of the gate the following season but managed to finish with 28 goals and 27 assists.

As for Gronkowski, he didn’t appear to struggle much on Thursday. He wasn’t one of the players placed on active/PUP earlier in the month, and he wasn’t wearing a red non-contact jersey, which meant he was cleared to hit and get hit by people. Really, he appeared to be a full go, taking part in all the drills that were required. He ran well, appeared to cut without a problem, caught several passes (including a handful down the seam) and took his share of hits over the course of the two-hour session. There didn’t appear to be any problem with the ankle, and he looked smooth running in the open field.

He didn’t speak with reporters after the session (he’s scheduled to address the media following Friday’s practice), which ran for two-plus hours on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. But his teammates and coaches said based on their interactions with him, there’s no reason to fear Gronkowski losing his focus this season.

“He looked good out there. He looks really good,” wide receiver Wes Welker said. “Those young guys heal up pretty good. Even though I was a little skeptical with the ‘Summer of Gronk’ and everything, he’s really bounced back pretty good. We look for him to help us a lot this year.”

Welker doesn’t think focus will be a problem, especially in the Patriots locker room, a place where the culture is so egalitarian that even Tom Brady has come in for hazing because of his Ugg boots or his rather odd decision to pose with a goat a few years ago. If Gronkowski is to remain on point this season, it’ll be because the New England locker room is where he’ll get a reality check.

“You need that atmosphere,” Welker said. “Sometimes you can be distracted by other places, and here it's just football. That’s what I love about it -- it’s not getting caught up in everything else and really focusing on the task at hand and understanding we have to get better every day to go out and win games.

“I think we have a good group of guys who are doing a great job of keeping everybody in line, and making sure that the focus is where it needs to be.”

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